


and pulse to pulse (now shush)

by divyasoup



Series: twilight [2]
Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Getting Together, Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:13:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24823633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/divyasoup/pseuds/divyasoup
Summary: Death had always seemed so distant. In her ponderings of the future, Bella had never seen herself dying so young. She had always been wrinkled with gray hair, sitting around her family. Not eighteen. Never so young.“Bella?” a soft voice. High-pitched. Feminine. Beloved. Alice. “Can you hear me?”
Relationships: Alice Cullen & Bella Swan, Alice Cullen/Bella Swan
Series: twilight [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1795699
Comments: 4
Kudos: 171





	and pulse to pulse (now shush)

**Author's Note:**

> I got really excited about this ship after posting the one-shot the other day and needed it to be happy! 
> 
> Still minimal editing. Concrit is welcome!

Death had always seemed so distant. In her ponderings of the future, Bella had never seen herself dying so young. She had always been wrinkled with gray hair, sitting around her family. Not eighteen. Never so young.

“Bella?” a soft voice. High-pitched. Feminine. Beloved.  _ Alice _ . “Can you hear me?”

\---

“I win!” Alice exclaimed, her excitement clear. Bella shook her head. 

“It isn’t fair, Alice.” She replied. “You know what I’m going to do.”

“Still! This is so fun!” Alice’s pale face was lit up. “None of us… We didn’t grow up with this new-fangled technology.”

“Oh please, you drive a sports car,” Bella said. “I’m the one with old-fashioned technology.”

Alice stuck her tongue out. “Shut up! I destroyed you!”

“You cheated!” Bella stood up and brushed off her palms. “No more video games.”

“Bella!” Alice whined.

“Nuh-uh. It’s getting close to dinner time.” Bella said. “Are you going to stay?”

“Charlie already thinks I’m averse to food,” Alice shook her head. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Tell me, Alice. Is there heavy rain in the forecast tomorrow?” Bella asked. Alice grinned, before jumping up and peeking out the window. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. 

“Oh, well, could be!” She said. ‘I’ll leave that up to fate!”

Alice winked, then disappeared. Bella laughed fondly, knowing that Alice would hear it.

Things had changed, after Italy. Bella had saved Edward, but not their relationship. The depression she had fallen into after the Cullens’ impromptu departure had become bearable, then she stabilized and it disappeared. Edward’s belief that he knew what was best for Bella chafed her. Dating a vampire was risky, but she knew that, and did so anyways despite the dangers. She accepted them wholly.

But Edward did not. He was so afraid, so unwilling to let her love him, so much so that he left. After thinking about it, Bella realized it was horrible. He was controlling. He may have loved her, but he didn’t act like it. His love was overbearing.

Beyond that, his insistence that Bella remain human was irritating. She loved him, yes, but she knew she had to be a vampire. It was, in the end, her choice, and he didn’t think she was making the right choice. Who was he to say that?

So when they had returned from Italy, she told him to leave her alone. She broke up with him this time. He listened.

Bella had expected to be cut off from the rest of the Cullens. Had expected them to break off their relationships with her in respect towards Edward, who would see every interaction they had with her. When they didn’t, she was relieved. She hadn’t realized it, but her friendships with Alice and Emmett had become very important to her, despite the limited contact she’d held with them in the time she’d known them.

Alice hung out with her often, almost every other day, in fact. As far as Bella could tell, Alice found her to be a safe person to confide in. Edward couldn’t read Bella’s thoughts, after all, and Alice could avoid thinking about certain things around him. Although she and Rosalie were very close, Alice couldn’t expect Rosalie to keep all her secrets all the time.

Visits from Emmett were less common. He, like Rosalie and Jasper, was supposed to be in college, after all. While he could certainly drop in when Charlie wasn’t home, he preferred waiting for days when Rosalie was busy. Bella still couldn’t tell why Rosalie despised her so much, but Emmett loved her very much. While she didn’t hold it against him when he hung out with Bella, she wasn’t pleased.

Fortunately, Jacob was still willing to spend time with Bella, if only at his stomping grounds, where he could better pretend that the Cullens’ weren’t back in town. They didn’t talk about it. She would visit the reserve sometimes, when the weather leaned on the nicer side. 

Alice was the one who Bella spent the most time with now. Her friends at school were, like they had always been, hard to speak with. Although she had been welcomed back by them when she started to feel better, they were still hesitant around her. Bella knew it wasn’t good for her to only be friends with vampires, but they were the easiest to interact with. Alice would join her in sitting with them most days.

Bella didn’t know where Edward sat for lunch. She didn’t ask and Alice didn’t offer any information. They didn’t really talk about Edward.

Once or twice Alice asked how Bella felt about it, in the beginning, but Bella wasn’t very willing to speak about it. Alice was kind enough to let it go.

Unintentionally, Alice had become Bella’s closest friend. Unintentionally, Bella had fallen for another Cullen.

\---

“So I was thinking…” 

“No.”

“Bella, I didn’t even finish!”

“I am  _ not  _ going to prom.” Bella said vehemently.

“Oh, c’mon Bella!” Alice sighed. “Jas isn’t supposed to be anywhere near Forks right now! I can’t go alone!”

“You can, and you will!” Bella said definitively. She was  _ not  _ going to prom. Not after last year, when she had gone with Edward, when she hadn’t even really wanted to go. It had been fun, but once was enough.

Alice pouted next to her. It was lunch. The school was buzzing about the senior prom. Bella could hear Jessica tell Angela how she needed a date to go, but there were no good options. Mike was teasing Eric about how he was going to ask Angela. Both conversations were occurring simultaneously and near each other, but neither of the pairs seemed to care. 

“Please, Bella!” Alice said. “After all, you only get to go to your senior dance once!”

“Your wall of graduation caps would suggest otherwise.” Bella scoffed. “Besides, I totally will, once you guys… you know.”

Alice nudged her shoulder good-naturedly. “Maybe so, but this one will include pictures with Charlie and a fancy dinner with your friends. Your next one might not be so… sweet.”

Alice didn’t have the experience of a senior prom as a human. While she didn’t share Edward’s perspective on souls, she still regretted missing out on ‘human’ experiences. Sometimes Bella thought that Alice was vicariously living through her, although they were having the same experiences.

“I don’t really want to go, Alice.”

“It’ll be fun. You can’t say no.”

“Who says?” 

Wrong question. Alice smiled mischievously. 

“Mike, wouldn’t it be a shame if Bella didn’t come to prom?” Alice asked sweetly. Mike looked taken aback, his eyes comically widening.

“Oh yeah! Bella, you should totally come!” he nodded quickly. Eric agreed, nodding along with him.

“Bella, you’re not coming to prom?” Angela asked softly.

“I… I don’t know,” Bella stuttered. “I guess… I guess I might.”

She looked over at Alice, who looked like the cat who ate the canary. Bella scowled at her, but there was no venom. Alice knew what would happen, of course she did. Sometimes it was so easy to forget that she could glance into the future.

“That wasn’t fair.”

“All’s fair in love and war,” Alice shrugged nonchalantly. “You would’ve agreed to come anyways.”

“Really? Does your vision tell you why?” Bella said grumpily. Alice looked perplexed. Of course her vision didn’t, and she said as much. But Bella didn’t need Alice’s sight to tell her why she would’ve been worn down. She knew she would do just about anything for Alice. “So, Alice, who are you going to take then? As a date?”

A painful question for Bella, because it couldn’t be her, but one a friend would ask. “Oh, I’m not sure yet. And you?”

“I’ll pass on a date,” Bella scoffed. As if she would go with someone. After the whole boyfriend disaster last year, Bella knew no one in school would approach her romantically, and she didn’t want to ask Mike to go as friends in lieu of somehow leading him on.

“Suit yourself,” Alice said. “But we will be going dress shopping! You can’t say no.”

Bella groaned. She wouldn’t say no either way. Dress shopping meant a whole day with Alice. No one should ever turn that down.

\---

“I like that one!” Alice said. Her honey-golden eyes were glittering beautifully in the bright lights of the dressing room. She was ‘helping’ Bella pick her dress, but really she was just picking Bella’s dress for her. This was a blessing in disguise, since her critical eye was much more aware than Bella’s could ever be. “Get that one. We can match!”

“It’s expensive, Alice. I can’t afford this.” Bella said.

“It’s on me, then. A graduation present, you could say.” Alice said. She looked at Bella, who was already moving to deny it. “I insist, Bella. Really, you need to learn to accept gifts. You’re going to be with me for a long time.”

Bella frowned. She knew that money was not an issue for the Cullens, but it still bothered her. Gifts which cost so much… It was too much.

“Don’t frown, you’ll get premature wrinkles,” Alice lifted her cool hand to Bella’s face and rubbed over her brow, as if to smoothen the creases. She cupped Bella’s face gently for a second, then rested both her hands on Bella’s shoulders. Bella could feel herself burning up, and hoped Alice thought it due to her frustration over the dress. “Let’s go.”

“What about your dress?” Bella asked shakily.

“I’m wearing one from the fifties,” Alice laughed, the sound echoing beautifully in the small room. “You could call it vintage.”

Alice laughed at her own jokes. She laughed at Bella’s jokes. At Charlie’s. She even laughed at Mike’s attempts. She was always so alive, even if her heart didn’t beat. 

\---

Prom was luckily uneventful. Mike and Jessica had gotten back together last minute, probably just for the dance. To Bella’s utter delight, Alice hadn’t asked anyone. She had gone to the Cullens to get ready, at Alice’s insistence. Charlie had been pleased when Alice came by to get her early, probably hoping for a night alone in the house.

Oddly, there was no one in the house while Bella and Alice got ready. It wasn’t unusual for the house to lack a couple people, most notably Edward and Rosalie, but Esme was almost always there. While it had never seemed out of use then, it felt out of use now. Like something was missing. Alice didn’t comment on it, which meant it was nothing serious. She had also insisted Bella stay the night, to which of course Bella agreed.

Alice drove them to the house after prom. It was still empty. After they had changed out of their dresses, which was a shame, because Alice looked beautiful in hers, they lounged in the kitchen. It was freshly stocked, just for Bella, and she was going to take advantage of that. 

Alice didn’t say much while Bella cooked. Just watched her. Her observation wasn’t unusual, but her silence was. Alice was always chattering about something. It was a pleasant silence, though, and Bella didn’t break it.

“Bella.” Alice eventually said. “Do you remember, when we were in Italy, what Aro said?”

“He said I had to turn. Soon,” Bella said. She had been hoping Alice would bring that up. While Alice had been more receptive to the idea of Bella being a vampire, Bella didn’t want to bring it up on the chance she might be shot down.

“I was… I was wondering if you’d be okay with me turning you.” Alice said shyly. She was facing down, but her eyes were looking up at Bella through thick lashes. Several thoughts went through Bella’s head, all stemming at  _ Yes! Of course! _

“I--Yes! Yes, Alice! I didn’t think--”

“You really want me too?! You aren’t--”

Their speech overlapped and both laughed at each other. The only way this could be more perfect would be if Alice loved Bella back.

“Is that why no one is here?” Bella asked when she caught her breath.

“Um. No,” Alice looked fearful now. “Edward… He decided to go up to Alaska for a bit. Stay with our friends there. Esme and Carlisle are on date night. Rose and Emmett are on a ‘honeymoon.’ Jas… Jasper is… I’m not quite sure where he is, to be honest.”

“What? Did something happen?” 

“No, no. Everything is… fine,” Alice said. She looked more nervous than she had five minutes ago. “We… He decided it was time to leave.”

“What do you mean, Alice?”

“I didn’t mean to, really, I didn’t,” She was rambling now. “I just, we spent so much time together, Bella, and then… I couldn’t help it! And he could tell… and he thought it would be best to leave.”

“You guys broke up? Why?” Bella couldn’t help but feel elated, but she hated that. 

“Oh, Bella, you really are obtuse,” Alice said. Her voice was fond. “I’m in love with you. I guess I couldn’t see that coming.”

Bella couldn’t breathe. Oxygen was very distant. Alice loved her. Alice  _ loved  _ her.  _ Alice loved her.  _ This was unprecedented. How did she not notice that Jasper had left? How had she not noticed Edward had too? They never talked about Edward, but it was rare that Alice would talk about Jasper as of late. But Alice loved her! None of that was really important right now.

“If you… If you don’t feel the same I understand, I just wanted to tell y--”

Bella cut her off by surging forward and crashing her lips against Alice. Thankfully, Alice’s speed ensured she could catch Bella before she crashed horribly against her, saving Bella from some odd bruising. 

Alice’s lips were cold, hard but somehow felt soft. They were rounder than Edwards, more plump. She was shorter than Bella as well. Leaning down to kiss her was a new experience, but not unwelcome. Bella wrapped her arms around Alice, trying desperately to pull her closer. Alice’s arms wrapped around Bella’s neck, holding her place as well. 

Bella didn’t know how long they stood there, only that when Alice pulled away and turned off the stove, Bella was gasping for breath. Alice let her recover slowly.

“I… I’ve been in love with you since… Since before Italy, probably,” Bella gasped. She felt hot, and leaned against Alice’s cold skin. Alice made a small noise of surprise and kissed Bella’s throat gently. Another spike of warmth surged through Bella. “You’re okay? With Jasper leaving?”

“Jasper understands us far more than we can imagine, Bella.” Alice said. Her voice was melancholy. “He knew before I did. He said I would light up when you turned up.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t feel bad, it was his decision.” Alice murmured. She wrapped her arms around Bella’s waist. “I still get to turn you, right?”

Bella nodded quickly. “You better.”

Alice laughed and kissed her again. The rest of the night was filled with Alice’s laughter and kisses. Bella felt like she was floating.

\---

Death wasn’t so bad. Her heart had long since stopped beating, but she was safe. Alice was with her and would be forever. She would be timeless, just like the rest of the Cullens. 

“I can hear you.” Bella said, her throat dry. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”


End file.
